mirkwoodspiders

Yes, please. It's wild how much of a difference that makes with purchasing plans. If the Death Star is good, it wipes out most sets I'm able to get for awhile. If it's poorly executed, that's $1,000 to devote elsewhere. Along with the advocacy for a TIE Avenger, might I add Luthern Rael's ship to the mix? That'd be a heck of a set.

I had my first LEGO quality control snafu in a while yesterday. Jango's UCS Slave 1 had two #9 bags and zero #6 bags. LEGO is shipping me a new #6 bag, but still pretty annoying. Prices are rising and quality is dropping. Of all the August sets, I think the V-19 is the only one in which I'm interested. I'm impressed with the minifgs for most of the other sets but don't have the $$ to buy these along with other sets I'm interested in. Waiting patiently for UCS Death Star news...

I'm a little confused. The "price-per-piece" metric of $0.10/piece (or something close to that) was one of the primary means of criticizing the Shire. Rarely were factors like size of pieces, licensing, prints, inflation, etc. referenced. We now have another LOTR set with almost exactly a $0.10/piece ratio and people are still complaining about the price/value. What am I missing? Btw, I do think it looks a little empty in photos but the Moria construction and the Balrog build look pretty good. I'll be picking this up when a 2X points promo or a discount rolls around.

I sure hope so :) Maybe it's meant to freak out the customer base and prime us to be even more excited/eager to buy when they (hopefully) release another model or models (beyond the book nook, that is).

Yeah, that'd be a good way to put it. Why stop at three? I'm still nervous about the "trilogy" language they used in the Shire release. It sounds final...

If LOTR is done after The Shire, you are: 1) Upset 2) Indifferent 3) Satisfied 4) ________________. I'm #1. I'm personally in the camp of "I'll buy nearly anything LOTR, possibly even Brickheadz, because I love the theme so much." So, I do hope they're not done yet. Three is better than nothing, but four, or five, or forty would be better than three!

GWP is awesome. 3 of a unique fig is pretty good.

Clearer images of the UCS Slave 1 box are out. Not much we didn't already know, although the view of the back of the ship does show a slot for the seismic charge. It'll be neat if there's a function to release it!

Some observations from the Slave 1 leaks: 1) The leaker looks to have the set and have built it in their home/apartment. I wonder why they do not upload higher quality pictures?! More curious than anything else haha. 2) The cockpit looks far larger than 75060. I noticed three seats! 3) On the leaked image of the back of the box, there looks to be a seismic charge in the bottom right corner. One of the photos also appears to show a seismic charge function, but it's so blurry I can't tell. Anyone else seeing what I'm seeing? 4) The overall shaping looks to be a substantial upgrade from 75060. This will be a day 1 buy!

Same here. Gotta sleep at some point.

Brickset forum is saying the same thing - nothing available in the U.S. at the moment. Weird

Anyone else in the U.S. having issues with the website? I'm signed in as an insider but purchasing is not an option. Unless it sold out within 5 minutes, something's up.

I feel LEGO could quell some frustration if they provided some explanation for their pricing mechanism. Can they? Should they? I don't know. However, knowing the "why" can do a lot to change the perception of a situation for the better. It's my impression LEGO collectors either want consistency or an understandable reason things are different across the board. Why is Bag End - having 6 fewer figs and 4,000+ fewer pieces than Rivendell - not closer to $200? What's behind the inconsistent pricing? We're aware of things like inflation, licensing fees, tariffs, printed pieces, new moulds, net weight of pieces in a set, etc. Are we missing something? Are we undervaluing certain aspects of the production process? Many people's go-to valuation tool of price-per-piece is a poor metric. It's single-factor analysis which disregards basic things like inflation and the differing value of individual pieces, among other things. But, what makes a good overall metric for judging a set's value? What would make Bag End worth $270 for its detractors? More figs? Another 500+ pieces? I really am curious what else people consider. I'll be purchasing Bag End. I do wish the side builds had their pieces dedicated to the main model. Having the dining room and kitchen would have been great. Maybe that's reason enough to pass. I also think the model is visually appealing, has a great selection of figures, and will look great alongside the other LOTR models. I've saved for it. It'll probably be the last of its kind for awhile, maybe ever. If someone can convince me $270 really is a travesty and a massive ripoff and something I shouldn't support/purchase, perhaps I'll pass. Until then, my mind won't stop telling me: "You shall not pass!"

I think the only way I'll buy day one is a GWP with some exclusive print(s) or just a healthy number of pieces. Otherwise, I see no reason to get it right away when there are double points to be had down the road. The thing will be around for awhile if I need to wait.

Same here. It's something for which I've saved for awhile now and am prepared to buy. $270 instead of $200 means I'll have $70 fewer to spend elsewhere, but I value LOTR LEGO higher than just about any other theme. Rising prices are forcing buyers to prioritize and LOTR is pretty high for me. I don't feel a protest is wise at this point. The theme is here, take advantage if you love LOTR and can afford it. I understand the price quibbles, but I just don't see the price as outrageous enough to forgo the set altogether. Not sure what price would make me skip it, to be fair, but not $270.

Can't find the image of the rear of the box. The feedback so far doesn't surprise me, though. Judging from the leaked image of the front, I wasn't expecting a spacious interior. The official reveal needs to get here!

And a flipping $1K Death Star. Probably more niche, but for hard core Star Wars fans who are also interested in any of the sets you listed... yikes! I've always wondered why LEGO doesn't space these larger licensed sets out a bit more. Personally I'd buy more of them that way - more time to save up before the sets retire. Shire is day one buy, assuming the GWP isn't a Brickheadz set and really does have minifigures as rumored. I'm also *interested in* UCS Death Star, Black Pearl, Enterprise, T-Rex Skeleton, UCS Jango's Slave 1, Krusty Burger, AT-ST, Neuschwanstein, and the LOTR Book Nook. That's altogether over $3K and... no way I can afford it all. Choices for LEGO just get harder each year it seems. Both a good and bad problem to have.

This was my exact thought when I saw the tree. It is the only blemish on an otherwise magnificent model. The fact that they included the Proudfoot couple is awesome. I'm anxious to see the interior!

Jedijacpenguin has Bag End listed at $199.99 USD. Not sure where he's getting his info, but if it's true that's a great price for a major license with 2K pieces. Let's wait and see how many figs it has, though.

This is an interesting point. If one was willing to buy the Falcon 8 years ago, theoretically the door should remain open for $1,000 today. I think 4 digits in front of the decimal is mentally disconcerting, but the real question is the relative value of the product being purchased. If you're getting a decent volume of LEGO pieces, with a moderate variety of brick sizes and colors, an engaging construction experience, a visually compelling final product, etc., perhaps the value is there. It's just, a set at $1,000 needs to be as close as one can get to flawless simply because $1,000 is mentally and financially a huge ask. If there's any source material that could pull it off, it's Minas Tirith.

I think I would as well - I'd just have to make sure I could display it somewhere.

Not sure if this was posted earlier but an update on price and piece count for 75409 - UCS Jango's Slave I, per Brick_Clicker: 2970 pieces $300.00 Both are substantially higher than 75060. I'm really interested to see how this one turns out.

Is the $200 AT-ST a UCS set? Or just a regular 18+?

10143 DS II was 3,449 pieces and retailed for $270. Adjusting for inflation, that price would be $436.17 today. This is going to be massive. Are we assuming its another DSII? I know that's what the leak pictures all have but none of them actually say this will be the unfinished version. Regardless, it'll have to blow people away to get any takers and I'm having trouble envisioning what that would even involve. Excited to see it at least!

I have 75060 but would pick this next version up in a hot second if it has all the features you described. Here's hoping!